Over the past two years, piracy along the Somali coast has almost made the Indian Ocean waters a no-go zone. And for this, the pirates have been branded a blessing in disguise to Kenya for locking out illegal commercial trawlers and ensuring high fish quantity and variety.
via The Standard | Online Edition :: Somali pirates stem fish piracy.
NAIROBI, Kenya — A global group says a key African human rights body has determined Kenya illegally evicted an indigenous population to make way for a wildlife reserve.Minority Rights Group says African leaders endorsed that decision during their three-day summit that ended Tuesday.The group on Thursday said it was a landmark decision that sets a precedent for recognizing the land rights of indigenous people in Africa.
via African body: Kenya illegally evicted group – washingtonpost.com.
The case concerns 500 tonnes of chemical waste brought to Ivory Coast by multi-national oil company Trafigura and dumped around Abidjan by a local contractor in 2006.
Trafigura http://www.trafigura.com/#H48nvu63qZ98 agreed last year to pay people who said they had been made ill by the waste.
The company and the claimants' lawyers agreed that a link between the dumped waste and deaths had not been proved.
via BBC News – Fear over Ivory Coast ruling on Trafigura waste pay-out.
Biodiverse grassland, biofuels and bioliquids
Consultation period: 14/12/2009 – 08/02/2010
The sustainability requirements of the Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources establish that raw materials used for the production of biofuels and bioliquids may not be produced on land that had the status of highly biodiverse grassland in or after January 2008. The objective of the consultation is to seek views on possible approaches to define the criteria and ranges of highly biodiverse grasslands. This will feed into the drafting of a Commission Decision on the establishment of criteria and ranges of highly biodiverse grasslands for the purpose of Directive 2009/28/EC.
via Energy: Public consultation – European commission.
But the problems facing Uganda – and Katine – are almost certain to be exacerbated rather than solved by oil. Last month, the campaigning group PLATFORM published three of the production sharing agreements PSAs the government has spent years keeping a closely guarded secret. The deals point towards a resource extraction programme designed for profit, not development, and contain a series of provisions that undermine any hope of changing course
via Uganda oil contracts give little cause for optimism | Katine | guardian.co.uk.
“Senegal is ready to offer them parcels of land – even an entire region. It all depends on how many Haitians come,” Mr Bemba Ndiaye said.
“If it's just a few individuals, then we will likely offer them housing or small pieces of land. If they come en masse we are ready to give them a region.”
via BBC News – Senegal offers land to Haitians.
“A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee.” A quote from President Bill Clinton on Obama while courting Senator Kennedy for endorsement of his wife Hilary Clinton for Presidency!!!
Wow! Wow Wow!
via Book: ‘08 campaign marked by internal discord – Politics- msnbc.com.
Page 37
Labour relations
60. (1) Every person has the right to fair labour practices.
(2) Every worker has the right to—
(a) fair remuneration;
(b) reasonable working conditions;
(c) form, join or participate in the activities and programmes of a
trade union; and
(d) go on strike.
What is to go on strike?
Definitions of strike on the Web:
deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon; “The teacher struck the child”; “the opponent refused to strike”; “The boxer struck the attacker dead”
affect: have an emotional or cognitive impact upon; “This child impressed me as unusually mature”; “This behavior struck me as odd”
hit: hit against; come into sudden contact with; “The car hit a tree”; “He struck the table with his elbow”
make a strategic, offensive, assault against an enemy, opponent, or a target; “The Germans struck Poland on Sept. 1, 1939″; “We must strike the enemy’s oil fields”; “in the fifth inning, the Giants struck, sending three runners home to win the game 5 to 2″
indicate (a certain time) by striking; “The clock struck midnight”; “Just when I entered, the clock struck”
hit: affect or afflict suddenly, usually adversely; “We were hit by really bad weather”; “He was stricken with cancer when he was still a teenager”; “The earthquake struck at midnight”
stop work in order to press demands; “The auto workers are striking for higher wages”; “The employees walked out when their demand for better benefits was not met”
fall: touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly; “Light fell on her face”; “The sun shone on the fields”; “The light struck the golden necklace”; “A strange sound struck my ears”
come to: attain; “The horse finally struck a pace”
produce by manipulating keys or strings of musical instruments, also metaphorically; “The pianist strikes a middle C”; “strike `z’ on the keyboard”; “her comments struck a sour note”
cause to form (an electric arc) between electrodes of an arc lamp; “strike an arc”
fall upon: find unexpectedly; “the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb”; “she struck a goldmine”; “The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake”
produce by ignition or a blow; “strike fire from the flintstone”; “strike a match”
remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line; “Please strike this remark from the record”; “scratch that remark”
hit: cause to experience suddenly; “Panic struck me”; “An interesting idea hit her”; “A thought came to me”; “The thought struck terror in our minds”; “They were struck with fear”
Maybe the constitution should define what strike is!!!!
Riots erupted on Thursday, when a gang of white youths fired air rifle pellets at a group of Africans, injuring a Togolese man and a Nigerian, in a region where thousands of immigrants are employed picking fruit and vegetables by farms and orchards.
Hundreds of African workers went on the rampage, burning cars and smashing shop windows, sparking further attacks by local men. Dozens of people were injured in the clashes, some of the worst racial violence in Italy for decades.
via Pope condemns ‘exploitation’ of immigrants – Telegraph.
Local people clapped and cheered yesterday as hundreds of Africans were moved by police out of a small town in Calabria following clashes in which immigrant farmworkers were shot at, severely beaten and run over.
More than 300 immigrants were loaded on to buses in the riot-torn town of Rosarno, destined for immigrant holding centres. Meanwhile, an immigrant was shot from a moving car with a pellet rifle, bringing to five the number who have been shot.